Six of our MCH students attended the 2020 annual meeting of the American Public Health Association(APHA), held October 24-28, 2020, online. What follows is a post from one of the attendees.
Jade D. Zachery, BS
This year has most definitely been one for the history books. I attended my first American Public Health Association Conference virtually and thoroughly enjoyed the sessions. APHA is such a huge conference and I was grateful to experience it the way I did so I would not have been overwhelmed. I do believe I am able to tackle next year though!
“Addressing Infant Mortality and Maternal Mortality Among African Americans” was a great session. All of the presenters were great: Kristin Schlater, MBA, Kenya McRae, JD, PhD, Ally Rooker, MPH, and Susan Cheng, PhD, MPH were all phenomenal presenters and I feel like I took a lot away from the session. Schlater first talked about a study on tackling perinatal health equity that was conducted about doula care in communities that were not heavily resourced. She first spoke about women who have died from maternal mortality like Kira Johnson and Shalon Irving, but she also talked about Serena Williams and how she advocated for herself because she knew something was wrong and got the help she needed. Sadly, that was not the case for Kira and Shalon. Schlater then went to talk a lot about doulas and the importance of doulas needed for mothers during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum.
Since doula care is mainly not covered by any type of insurance, Health Net in California has started a new program where doula support can potentially be provided to every mother. The study has shown to be very successful and they are still collecting data. This was such a great presentation for me to see that research has been conducted because they know the positive impacts that doulas have on families, especially in the African American community. Doula care is important in both health disparities and advocacy. Can’t wait to see what happens next and what other insurance companies apply this to their health insurance plans.
Jade D. Zachery, BS, is a first-year MPH student, concentrating in Maternal and Child Health. She plans to graduate in May 2022. Her interests include maternal and infant mortality in the African American community, health disparities, and advocacy. She also loves being a doula trainee (DT), reading, and watching This Is Us.
